Machine for punching and lacing jacquard cards



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet l.

V.ROYLE. MACHINE FOR PUNCHING AND LAGING JAGQUARD CARDS.

No. 556,774. Patented Mar. 24, 1896.

m Model.) 4 SheetsShet 2.

H v. BOYLE. I MACHINE FOR PUNCHING AND LAGING JACQUARD CARDS, N0; 556,774. Pate'nted Mar. 24, 1896.

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No. 556,774. Patented Mar 24, 1896.

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(No Model.)

V. BOYLE. MACHINE FOR PUNCHING AND LAUING JAGQUARD CARDS. No 556,774. Patented Mar. 24, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT VERNON ROYLE, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY MACHINE FOR PUNCHING AND LACING JACQUARD CARDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,774, dated March 24, 1896.

Application filed January 25, 1893. Serial No. 459,657. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

' 3e it known that I, VERNON BOYLE, of Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Punching and Lacing Jacquard Pattern-Cards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in machines for punching and lacing Jacquard pattern-cards in which the cards pass to the punches 'and thence continuously along to the lacing mechanism.

In the preferred form which Ihave chosen to illustrate my invention the cards are antomatically fed from a stack to the punches, and are carried thence along an endless carrier beneath the needle of the lacing mechanism, where they are laced together at their adjacent edges and are finally discharged in a continuous connected series.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the machine in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a view in vertical longitudinal section Fig. 3 is a top plan view. Fig. 4 is a partial view in side elevation, the reverse of that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section through line x5e of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section through the needlesupport and its operating mechanism and through the looper. Figs. 7 and 8 are views in detail of the cam for giving the needle its rotary movement, the two views representing the opposite sides of the cam. Figs. 9, E), 10, 10, 11, 11", 12, 12, 13, and 13 represent respectively in side elevation and horizontal plan, partly in section, the posi tions which the needle and looper assume with respect to one another at different intervals during the formation of the stitch.

The bed-frame of the machine is represented by A and is here shown as supported upon legs a. The common drive-shaft from which motion is transmitted to the punching and lacing mechanism is denoted by B, and is mounted in suitable bearings in the sides of the frame A. On one end it is provided exterior to the frame with suitable pulleys Z) Z) for receiving the drive-belt (not shown) and with a bala-11ce-wheelb On its opposite end exterior to the frame A it is provided with a spur-wheel Z2 which intermeshes with the spur-wheel c on the shaft C, also mounted in suitable bearings in the sides of the frame A, and utilized for transmitting the movement of the drive-shaft B to the several mechanisms for feeding, punching, and lacing the cards.

The cards are stacked, lying flat one upon another, within a suitable feed-hopper d at the rear of the frame A, and underneath said hopper (1 there is a reciprocating table (1 provided on its under side with a pair of rackbars (1 and on the upper side with a pushplate (1 the plate d being preferably about the thickness of one of the cards. At its front end the table d is provided with a springactuated dog (1", which is intended to engage the rear edge of the card that has already been fed from the hopper to the punches at the same time that asubsequent card is fed to the punches.

The slot d5, through which the cards are fed from the bottom of the hopper (Z to the punches, may be narrowed or expanded at pleasure by the longitudinal sliding movement of an oblique-edged shutter d, fitted to the lower portion of the front wall of the hopper, with its oblique upper edge (F projected into an oblique groove (Z in the wall of the hopper. A clamp-nut d 011 a boltor stud (1 extending through an elongated slot cl in the shutter serves to lock it in position. The table (1 is advanced and returned by means of gear-wheels E fixed on the shaft 6, which gear-wheels intermesh with the rack-bars (P, the shaft 6 itself being rocked by means of a pinion c thereon, which intermeshes with a toothed segment 6 on the vibrating arm 6 pivotally secured at A vibrating movement is imparted to the arm e by means of an operating-rodf, connected with the straps f, which embrace an eccentric c on the shaft 0.

The connection of the rod f with the arm 6 is such that the rod may be made to act upon the arm at different distances from the pivotal support of the arm to increase or diminish its throw and hence the movement of the table d as may be required.

Ihe punches g for making the openings in the ends of the cards to receive the lacing are arranged in three sets of two each, one set in position to punch the cards at their middle portions and the other two sets in position to punch the cards at their ends. There is also an intermediate pun-ch g, one at each end, for punching holes near the ends of the cards and about midway between their edges for purposes of advancing them to the lacing mechanism as will hereinafter more particularly appear. The punches are set in a cross-head G and extend down through openings in a guide-piece G into contact with the cards as they rest momentarily beneath said guide-piece. The cross-head G is provided at its opposite ends with journals or studs g for the reception of the upper ends of a pair of operating-rods g, connected with eccentrics c on the shaft C.

After the cards have been punched they are pushed forward onto an endless carrier II, consisting in the present instance of a pair of bands mounted at their forward ends upon a pair of wheels h and at their rear ends upon a pair of corresponding wheels h. The bands II are provided at suitable intervals with upwardly-projecting spurs 7L2, adapted to enter the perforations at the central portions of the ends of the cards and positively convey them with their edges in proximity to one another to the lacing mechanism. The wheels h and hare provided with notches h at the same intervals as the distance between two consecutive spurs 7L2, and the bands II are provided on their under sides with proiections 71*, adapted to enter the recesses h in the peripheries of the wheels for the purpose of positively advancing the carriers. The wheels 7L are loosely mounted in the prescnt instance on the drive-shaft B, and the wheels h are fixed to rotate with a shaft It provided on one end exterior to the frame A (see Fig. 4) with a ratchet-wheel I.

In lacing the cards together it is desirable that there be two shorter stitches taken consecutively at the adjacent edges of two consecutive cards and a longer stitch intermediate of each two consecutive shorter stitches extending from near one edge of a card to near the opposite edge. To accomplish this I provide an irregular feed by arranging the teeth upon the ratchet-wheel I so that there shall be a long tooth i intermediate of each two consecutive shorter i eeth i. The ratchetwheel I is operated by means of a pawl 1' carried on the end of a vibrating lever 2' fulcrumed in the present instance on the shaft 71. The lever i is operated by a rod 1,having at one end a slot-and-pin connection i withthe lever and at its opposite end connected with an arm i of a bell-crank lever, the shorter arm of said bell-crank lever being connected by a retraction-spri ng 11 with a suitable support on the frame A. An irregular cam c fixed on the shaft 0 is arranged to press against the arm 1 of the bell-crank lever and rock it at suitable intervals a distance sufficient to force the ratchet-wheel I around the distance of a long tooth "i and thcnof two shorter teeth z" to impart to the cards-the .necessary feed.

The lacing mechanism employed in connection with the feed, as hereinabove described, comprises a vertically-reciprocating and rotary needle and a looper arranged to oscillate in a plane transverse to the reciprocating movement of the needle. In the present instance I have shown three sets of needles and their corresponding loopers arranged to be operated simultaneously to lace the cards to gether at each end and at their middle portions.

Uprising standards K upon opposite sides of the frame A are connected by a cross-bar 7a, and to this cross-bar are secured the bearing-pieces k and k for the needles. One of these is shown on .a larger scale in vertical section in Fig. 6. The bearing-pieces are each provided with a pair of arms in which are located an upper bearing, L, and a lower bearing, L. The upper bearing has fixed therein a sleeve Zprovided with a cam-groove. which, beginning at the top of the sleeve at one side thereof, extends lengthwise along the sleeve in a right line, as shown at Z", then diverges, as shown at Z and winds half-way around the sleeve, terminating in a short straight portion 1'' near the lower end of the sleeve and at the opposite side from that on which the straight portion Z is located, and then returning winds around the opposite side of the sleeve, as shown at 1*, and connects with the straight portion Z near the lower end thereof.

The needle (denoted by M) is provided at or near its upper end with a head-block m adapted to fit and slide readily within the camsleeve Z, and said head-block m is provided with a laterally-projeeting stud m, shown in y the present instance as provided with an antifriction-roller adapted to travel freely along the cam-groove in the sleeve Z. The effect or this cam-groove upon the needle as the latter is reciprocated within the sleeve Z is, beginning with its position shown in Fig. (3, to cause it to remain for a moment without a rotary movement while the stud m passes along up the short straight portion Z of the groove and then to gradually rotate as the stud passes through the winding portion Z of the groove, and finally, after the stud reaches the straight portion Z of the groove, to cease its rotary movement while the stud m passes to the top of the groove Z and again return to the lower end of said straight portion, at which moment the stud m, entering the windin g port-ion Z of the groove, will further rotate the needle until when it again reaches the straight portion Z at the bottom. of the groove the needle will have completed a single revolution.

The needle extends downwardly through an opening in the lower bearing L, and the latter is provided with an enlarged chamber and has a depending portion Z, which extends along down in proximity to the needle and serves to prevent the latter from being sprung out of alignment by any pressure which the loop may exert upon it during the feed. The depending guard Z also serves to slip the loop from the needle as the lattermoves upwardly. The needle is operated by means of a rackbar N seated in suitable bearings '22 and nin the free ends of the bearing-piece said rack-bar being provided with an arm n which projects through a slot in the side of the bearin g L and is loosely connected with the needle, in the present instance by extending between a pair of collars m and m? fixed to the shank of the needle within the chamber Z of the bearing Lf. Toothed segments 0 O 0 engage the several rack-bars for operating the needle and are themselves secured to a rockshaft 0 journaled in suitable bearings in the standards K. The rock-shaft 0 has an arm 0 fixed thereto and connected by a rod 0 with the arm 0 of a vibrating lever fulerumed on the drive-shaft B, the opposite arm 0* of the lever having an engagement with an irregular eam c' fixed on the shaft C. The rotary movement of the cam 0 serves to rock the arm 0 of the vibrating lever and hence the shaft 0 connected with the lever and hence the segments 0 O O which communicate the reciprocating movements to the needles.

The cam c" is so formed as to give the needles the necessary delays and reciprocating movements required to perfect the stitch, which will hereinafter be more particularly described.

The loopers, one for each needle, are located beneath the plane along which the cards are carried, and each consists of a short hollow eylinde r P (see Fi 6) loosely supported within cylindrical pockets or casings 1) depending from the upper portion 'of the frame A. The cylinders P are provided around their base portions with teeth 19, forming in eifect a pinion, and the several sets of teeth 13 are engaged by a reciprocating rack-bar 132 extending transversely across the machine and projecting through openings in the side of the poohets p to engage the teeth on the loopers. The rack-bar 11 1 8 supported in any well-known or approved manner, so as to freely reciprocate, and is connected by a link 19 with a vibratin g arm pffixed to a rock-shaft 19 mounted in suitable bearings at the base of the frame A, and having also fixed thereto an operatin germ n, the free end of which bears against a facecam fixed on the shaft 0. The cam serves to rock the shaft 19 and hence move the rack-bar p in one direction, while a torsional spring p secured to the shaft at one end and to the bearings of the shaft at its opposite end serves to rock the shaft in the op posite direction to hold the arm 1) against the face of the cam c and hence to move the rack-bar p in the opposite direction. The

movementimparted to the looper by means of the rack-bar operated by the cam c and by the spring 23 is sufficient to rotate the looper nearly a complete revolution and then return it in the opposite direction to its point of starting, and is so timed with respect to the movements of the needle as to form the stitch to be hereinafter particularly described.

The cord or thread with which the cards are to be laced is denoted in Fig. 1 by Q, and is fed from a suitable supply roll or spool q, held under the desired tension by a weighted arm q, up through an opening in the bottom of the pocket 12, thence through the interior of the looper to a holder or guide p at one side of the top of the looper, (see Fig. 6,) from whence it is directed by the movements of the needle and looper to form the stitch.

The stitch, which when completed is substantially the same as the ordinary chainstitch of the illcoX d; Gibbs sewing-machine, for example, is formed as follows: Beginning with the position of the parts shown in elevation and plan in Figs. 9 and 9 the long step in the feed having taken place, the needle descends with the loop in its hook into the position shown in Figs. 10 and 10, and in so doing rotates a part of a revolution in a direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 10, and as it passes down through the punched hole in the card leaves the loop and passes its hooked portion down within the hollow looper, and as 11; reaches its lowermost position (shown in Figs. 11 and 11) it has rotated a half-revolution from its position in Fig. 9. While the needle remains momentarily within the looper, the latter is rotated in the direction of the arrows, Figs. 1O and 11, winding the cord around the shank of the needle, as shown in Fig. 11. Shortly after the needle begins its upward movement it continues its rotary movement in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 12 and receives the cord in the bi ght of its book, as shown in said Fig. 12, and draws the latter up through the bight of the loop previously formed, the point of the hook being now turned away from the bight of the loop, and, as it completes its upward movement, gradually rotates, as shown in Fig. 13, around to the position in which it started. (Shown in Fig. 9.) lVhile in position above the cards and holding the loop in its hook the looper returns by a reverse movement from the position shown in Fig. 12*, which it assumed when the hook received the cord therein, back to the position shown in Fig.

10, ready for again winding the cord around the needle when it shall next descend, and the feed in the meantime takes place, the cord rendering through the looper to furnish the required amount for the stitch.

It will be observed that the twist which is given to the cord by the rotary movement of the looper and which appears in the loop drawn up by the needle is removed by the partial rotary movement of the needle as it passes through the first half of its downward movement, so that when the loop rests on the card in the position where it is to be secured it will be without twist, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11.

The operation of the several parts of the machine having been so fully set forth in connection with the parts which immediately coact therewith, a detailed description of the operation of the whole will be omitted.

Briefly stated, the operation of the machine as a whole is as follows: The cards being furnished to the hopper and the stack therein having been kept suitably replenished, the cards are successively ad vanced from the bottom of the stack to the punches and are there delayed while the punches perforate them. The advance of a new card from the stack to the punches pushes the punctured card .onto the endless carrier II, where the spurs 71 of the carrier enter the central end perforations in the cards and carry them positively along with their edges in the desired proximity to one another to a position beneath the needle,

where they are delayed sufficiently to permit the needle to enter the perforations in the cards and the spaces between their edges to form the necessary stitches to lace them together. From the endless carrierthe laced cards pass over the end of the frame A and may be folded or packed, as desired.

It is obvious that slight changes might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts without departing from. the spirit and scope of my invention. Hence I do not wish to limit myself strictly to the structure herein set forth; but

What I claim is-- 1. In combination, a punching mechanism for forming lacing and spur holes in the work, a lacing mechanism and an endless carrier provided with a series of spurs adapted to engage the spur-holes in the work and carrying it from the punching mechanism to the lacing mechanism, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination, a punching mechanism for punching holes in Jacquard cards and a reciprocating feeder provided with abutments for simultaneously engaging and advancing a card to the punching mechanism and a card from the punching mechanism, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination, a receiving-hopper for the cards, a reciprocating feeder for removing the cards from the hopper, and an oblique edged longitndinally-movable shutter for regulating the size of the opening through which the cards are passed from the hopper, substantially as set forth.

4:. In combination, the reciprocating feeder provided with card-engaging devices for simultaneously engaging and advancing two successive cards, means for supplying the cards to the feeder and means for operating the feeder, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination, the reciprocating feeder provided with a spring-actuated dog at its front end in position to advance a previouslyfed card, and with a shoulder in position to feed a card, means for supplying the cards to the feeder and means for operating the feeder, substantially as set forth.

6. In combination, the punching mechanism comprising lacing-hole punches and spurhole punches, the reciprocating feeder, means for supplying cards to the feeder, a rotary shaft and eccentrics on the rotary shaft for controlling the movements of the feeder and the punches, substantially as set forth.

7. In combination, mechanism for punching lacing-holes in the work, a lacing mechanism, a reciprocating feeder which advances the work to the punching mechanism and also from the punching mechanism to an endless carrier, the endless carrier for presenting the work to the lacing mechanism, and means for imparting to the endless carrier a variable movement, substantially as set fort h.

VERNON BOYLE. \Vi tn esscs FREDK. HAYNES, l. B. DECKER. 

